Teacher unions call off new GES DG strike after court order
A nationwide strike action by three teacher unions (NAGRAT, CCT-GH & GNAT) over the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah as Acting Director-General of Ghana Education Service (GES) has been called off following a court order.
The industrial action call-off comes after the National Labour Commission (NLC) representing the central government secured a restraining order from the court against the teacher union strike on Friday, November 11, 2022.
Speaking to journalists, the President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu said “we can’t disrespect the court order To that end, we are telling all our members to resume work on Monday.”
The teacher unions in a bid to register their displeasure over the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah, a person they say is unqualified to head the Ghana Education Service declared a nationwide strike on Friday, November 4, 2022.
In a statement copied to AcademicWeek, the teachers said “we have decided to embark on a strike from November 4, 2022. We are informing the public that we are withdrawing our services in all pre-tertiary education institutions.”
With 17 Educationists appointed Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) since 1974 to date, the pre-tertiary unions say Dr Eric Nkansah with a banking background is not qualified to manage education in the country.
“It must be stated that the Director-General position is preserved for Educationists and has been occupied by Educationists since 1974 to date. 17 Director-Generals have been appointed to serve at GES,” the unions stated.
In other news, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education has denied claims indicating it fully has endorsed the controversial appointment of the Acting Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Nkansah Eric.
“The Parliamentary Select Committee on Education has not endorsed Dr Nkansah as the Ghana Education Service Director-General. It is not true we have endorsed him, we have not done that, “a member of the Committee, Clement Apaak told TV3.
Asked why some members of the Parliament Education Committee paid a courtesy call to the Acting Director-General of GES on October 31, 2022, Apaak said his colleagues only went to interact with Dr Nkansah but not to endorse him.
